Several years ago, I got it in my head that I needed to make a sword. (In case the barbarians attack and we run out of bullets!) My dad (maker_of_fire) worked with me.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...pictureid=1928
We started out a leaf spring from a big truck. In the pictures you can still see the hole in the middle, which we left so people would believe what it was made from. It was quite a challenge to straighten out the leaf spring. We tried several methods. What finally worked the best was this: I hammered it with a 9lb sledge while dad held it on top of a big stump. After about a day of this we got it straightened out.
I did not hammer it to make the blade. This was done totally by stock removal using a disk grinder. This was a ridiculously slow process because we did not want to overheat the piece and lose the temper of the steel. It took several days of grinding to get what you see in the pictures. I did not put an especially sharp edge on it for the sake of saftey. A 37 inch, 9 pound sword with a razor edge sounds pretty dangerous to me!
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...pictureid=1929
We used an acetylene torch to trim down the tang. The handle is extremely dry locust wood, held in with brass pins and wrapped in leather. I shaped the handle for a two-hand grip, which is necessary with a sword this size. The pommel is a brass knob, which was actually a ball from a horse hame.
The resulting sword would be rather large and heavy for practical use in battle, unless you were a rather large and heavy barbarian. (I am large and heavy and I am not sure I could swing that thing throughout a protracted battle!) It makes a good showpiece, even though I have not kept it oiled as I should - you can see the tarnish in places. But it was a fun project and my first attempt at bladesmithing. I hope you enjoy it and are inspired to try something.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...pictureid=1930
